Obvium Primus: The Cherub Experiment
by ThatsWhatReallyHappened
Summary: Max doesn't know it, but the Flock isn't the only group of experiments out there. The Alley is a group of part cat hybrids and their youngest member, Cherub is kidnapped at about the same time as Angel...
1. Prologue

**This idea has been in my head for a while now. What if the Flock had part cat counterparts called the Alley who they met in ****The Angel Experiment****? Hope you enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: I only own the Alley.**

Congrats. The fact that you're reading this shows that you've taken one giant leap closer to surviving till New Year's. Yes, you people standing there skimming through these pages. _Don't you dare put this book down._ I'm not kidding- your lives could depend on it.

This is our story, the story of my family and I, but it could become your story too. We're all involved in this; believe me.

I've never written down my adventures before, so I'm just going to jump in, and you try your best to keep up.

Okay. I'm Obvium. I'm fourteen years old. I live with my family, who are five kids who aren't related to me by blood, but still totally my family.

We're – well, we're kind of incredible. Not to sound too conceited, but we're not like anything you've seen before.

Basically, we're pretty cool, kind, intelligent – but not "normal" in any way. The six of us – me, Jem, Felix, Wink, the Fizzman, and Cherub – were made on purpose, by the cruelest, most twisted "scientists" you could possibly imagine. A stupid experiment where we ended up only 96 percent human. That other 4 percent has had a huge impact, let me tell you.

We grew up in a science lab aka dungeon called the School, in cages, like lab rats. It's pretty incredible we can think or speak at all. But we can – and much more.

There was one other School experiment we know of that made it past infancy. Part human, part wolf – all predator: They're called Erasers. They're incredibly tough,clever, and hard to control. They look human, but when they feel like it, they can morph into wolf men, complete with fur, fangs, and claws. The School uses them as guards, policemen – and executioners.

To them, we're six moving targets – prey intelligent enough to be a fun challenge. Technically, they want to tear our throats out. And make sure the world never discovers us.

But I'm dead yet. I'm telling this story_, _right? This story could be about you – or your children. If not yet, then soon. So please, please take me seriously. I'm risking everything that matters to me by telling you – _but you have to know._

Keep reading - don't let anybody stop you.

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	2. Chapter 1: Not A Scaredy Cat

**Disclaimer: All I own is the Alley**

The crazy thing about facing imminent death is that it totally snaps everything else into perspective. Take right now for instance.

_Run! Come on, Run! You know you can make it._

I gulped huge gulps of air. My brain was on overdrive; I was racing for my life. My only goal: to escape. Nothing else mattered.

My arms being cut up by a briar I'd run through? No big deal.

My bare feet hitting every sharp rock, rough root, pointed stick? Whatever.

My lungs gasping for air? I could manage.

Whatever it took to get away from the Erasers.

Erasers: Part human, part wolf. Kind of like werewolves, but they skip the full moon stage and can become wolves whenever.

See why I was running?

And no, not at all like Remus Lupin so don't even ask. I have yet to meet a helpful Eraser.

I heard the barking of bloodhounds. I get really nervous about dogs. You might even say I'm afraid of them.

None of us stand a chance of outracing a dog.

I burst through the forest into a clearing. Then I noticed I was surrounded. On one side, slobbering bloodhounds. On the other side, Erasers.

Then I saw it. A cliff. Rather fall to my death than be torn apart by slobbering dogs, right? Quickly, I closed my eyes and jumped over the cliff.

Howling sounded from above but I barely noticed. I was going through my own little metamorphosis.

Cat ears poked through my red-blonde hair and I started growing a tail. I landed on my feet at the bottom of the canyon.

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	3. Chapter 2: Welcome to My Life

**Disclaimer: All I own is the Alley**

I sat up in my bed, and checked my arms. No injuries. Good.

I despise that dream. Always the same dream, with Erasers and dogs and jumping off cliffs. So annoying.

It was freezing, but I jumped out of bed anyways. I put on my favorite white hoodie with an orange cat face on it and jeans that were faded and ripped. I picked up my kitten, Emmy, and headed to the kitchen to make breakfast.

On the way to the kitchen I gazed out the hall windows. We lived at the bottom of a canyon. Here my family and I were free, literally, not in cages.

We didn't go to school so we learned everything from the internet. We had no parents since our guardian, Jeb died. We would sometimes see what looked like large birds flying overhead but we never had time to look.

I was the oldest so I was basically the parent. I would be in charge of chores, collecting food, buying clothes, and buying books to keep us from being bored.

So yeah we lived a golden life. Nobody knew about us so we would stay alive.

We could basically do whatever we wanted as long as we stayed out of sight.

I was looking for stuff I could cook in the kitchen, when I heard footsteps behind me.

"Good morning Ollie."

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	4. Chapter 3: Meet the Alley

**Disclaimer: All I own is the Alley**

"Morning, Fizzy," I said as the very sleepy eight-year-old plopped down at the table. I rubbed his back and kissed his forehead. He'd been the Fizzman ever since he was a little baby. What can I say? The kid burps louder than an airplane on the run way. A word to the wise: Never give him onions. It will result in a horribly stinky humungous burp.

Fizzy glanced at me, his blue eyes innocent looking. "What are we eating?"

"Food." I said, making him laugh. His cute little eyes sparkled.

"Orange juice?" he said as he poured a couple glasses. He was such a sweet kid, like his younger sister, Cherub. They were the only blood relatives among us but we were all a family anyway.

Right after that Felix slumped in, tall with actual white hair, carrying his cat, Shadow. Shadow may have been an animal, but he understood Felix better than almost anyone. Felix hated being deaf. Shadow, with the exceptional hearing of a cat, would react for him when there was a sudden noise. Shadow was his ears.

Shadow leapt out of Felix's arms and curled up on the couch next to Emmy. They looked so cute that I wanted to take a picture.

Apparently, somebody read my mind. There was a click and a flash and I turned around. Jem, my best friend, had approached silently without me noticing. The cats had leapt off the couch and instead curled up on the floor. Jem laughed and grinned at me.

The only ones still sleeping were Wink and Cherub. "Jem, Felix, you set the table." I said, turned towards Felix so he could read my lips. "I'll wake up Wink and Cherub."

Wink and Cherub shared the last bed room. I opened the door and found eleven-year-old Wink sleeping, wrapped in her covers. She was barely recognizable with her mouth closed, I thought.

When she was awake, we called it the Wink Broadcast: all Wink, all the time.

"Sweetie, get up time for breakfast." Wink mumbled something and sat up. She walked out the door.

Cherub was curled up on her small bed. Cherub was the sweetest little girl. I never told anybody, but I loved, loved, Cherub. Maybe because she had depended on me forever. Maybe because she was so sweet and understanding.

"Maybe because I'm your little girl." Cherub said. "But don't worry Ollie, I love you best too."

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention one teensy little thing about Cherub.

She can read minds.

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	5. Chapter 4: Darn Blueberries

**Sorry for the long wait. My teachers are slavedrivers. Here it is, the long awited next chapter! (Star Wars theme song starts playing)**

"Please can we go outside and pick blueberries today?," Cherub pleaded, crunching on a piece of bacon. "They're ripe now."

"Fine, I'll go Cherub," grumbled the Fizzman. Just then he let rip one of his unfortunate occurrences and chuckled.

"Oh, jeez, Fizzy," I groaned.

"Oy, maybe I should've put those onions away last night!" Felix admitted. Everyone knew Fizzy loved to sneak out of bed for midnight snacks.

"Not hungry anymore, thanks to Fizzy and Felix." muttered Jem, throwing his plate in the sink.

"Next time I'll eat your food, if you aren't hungry," offered Fizzy.

"Omigod, that reminds me of a character in this awesome book I read, it was called Jedi Apprentice. The guy went around all like, Uh I don't mean to sound greedy, but are you going to eat that? He was only a minor character, though. Weird, I always remember the minor characters in the books Ollie buys-

"WINK!" we all grumbled.

"We can all go pick the darn blueberries," I mumbled

Outside, it was beautiful, clear and cloudless, with the first real heat of May. We carried baskets as we strolled to a patch of wild blueberries, cats padding softly behind us.

Cherub and Wink started begging, "Oh please, can we make blueberry pie tonight?"

"No way anything you girls make will be edible," scoffed Felix.

"Be quiet, Felix ! We can cook fine!"

"Hahaha! I said it." Fizzy exploded into laughter. How could I forget Fizzy's supreme ability to mimic any voice? Once Felix and Wink nearly blew the house apart because Fizzy had said in Felix's voice that Harry Potter was stupid.

Cherub screamed loudly. We looked at her and then at her pointing finger. Erasers! And it wasn't a dream.


	6. Chapter 5: Attack of the Erasers

**The moment all you readers have been waiting for, the meeting of the Flock and the Alley!**

**Disclaimer: All I own is the Alley.**

We didn't think at all. We started climbing the walls of the canyon, cat ears and tails poking out. Don't call us cowards, it's always a cat's first instinct to run if it's outnumbered.

Quickly, we reached the top of the canyon and found ourselves face to face with another battle, one between Erasers and mutants with wings. I looked around, and my eyes met one of theirs. She had a look of leadership and desperation I knew well. I saw it every time I looked in the mirror. I launched into a battle, because as far as I was concerned, they were like us and if we ran, some of them would follow us anyway. Jem followed suit, rushing to aid a winged mutant who minutes ago had disappeared under a pile of Erasers.

I looked around. Even with the extra help, we were being badly beaten. Felix was trying desperately to fend off the Erasers with the help of a winged mutant whose eye was swelling shut. Shadow was perched on Felix's head, occasionally lashing out a paw at an Eraser.

The Fizzman was lying out cold next to another winged mutant, who looked about the same age.

I heard a tiny wail. Emmy! I grabbed the tiny orange and black kitten just as a huge Eraser was about to step on it. Then, four Erasers grabbed me and pushed me down.

I heard Cherub screaming and Wink crying, along with the cries of the other mutants.

Get up! I told myself, trying to suck in air. Get up!

As cat mutant kids, we're much, much stronger than regular grown-up humans. But the Erasers were anything but, and they outnumbered us, even with the help of the winged mutants. We were dog meat. I punched two of the Erasers pinning me down and kicked the other two where it counts, just in time to see a winged mutant crumple against a tree along with Wink.

"Ollie!" screamed Cherub at the same time as the smallest winged mutant screamed "Max!" Two Erasers had them and I leapt over an unconscious winged mutant, only to have an Eraser block my way.

I looked around. Nobody was in the slightest shape to help Cherub and the other mutant. Two more Erasers converged on me, and by the time I got free, Cherub was gone.


	7. Chapter 6: Common Goal

**Thanks to The Invisible Enchantress. Her reviews are what keep this story going.**

**Disclaimer: The only thing I own is The Alley.**

I don't know why we stuck around. We should have been chasing after the Erasers, trying to get Cherub back. I guess we knew that we would need the help of the winged mutants.

So basically, until their leader woke up, we sat around and exchanged information.

The little winged mutant taken by the Erasers was named Angel, they told us. Six years old, apparently, and she could read minds like Cherub. According to them, she was a sweet little girl.

The little boy around Fizzy's age introduced himself as Gazzy. He unfortunately showed us the reason behind his name right away. His talent was mimicking voices, like Fizzy. He was the biological brother of Angel.

Nudge was eleven years old and she talked _a lot_. I figured with her and Wink put together we were going to get plenty of headaches.

Iggy was blind. I felt bad for him. Losing one of your best senses must have been really hard. Felix seemed especially sympathetic.

Fang was silent. Seriously, that's the only word I could use to describe him.

Their leader, Max, was the oldest. The one who kept things running. She was a warrior and fast.

Part of my mind wondered, that if we got Cherub and Angel back, that we could be friends. Don't get me wrong, I love the Alley. They're my family. But it would be nice for us to have some friends outside of our family.

"Check in, guys - are you up for a chase?" Max said, examining all of us.

"Yes," Nudge said in a tear-choked voice.

"Anything for Cherub," murmured Wink.

"I'm up." said Iggy, a split lip making his voice thick.

"Same here," muttered Felix.

Fizzy, Gazzy, and I nodded.

We heard an engine noise. While they were able to spot a car, cats don't have great eyesight.

"Wait," I said, "Should we jump down while you fly down?"

"Sure," said Max, "Let's get them!"

One by one, we leapt off the cliff.


	8. Chapter 7: Rescue Attempt

**Lots of love to all you reviewers out there! Miss anonymous asked me to tell in an A/N what the Alley's names mean.**

**Obvium Primus means "the first to engage" in Latin. I figured she would always be one of the first ones to leap into a fight. I wanted her to have a nickname, like Max, so I chose Ollie because it was the closest thing to Obvium.**

**Jem is just a cooler spelling of "gem". He's always been told that his eyes sparkle like gems.**

**Felix is after Felix the Cat.**

**Wink seemed to counter Nudge appropriately. Think about it. *Wink, wink, nudge, nudge***

**Fizzy is of course, because of his burping. I wanted to make him like Gazzy, but original too.**

**Cherub is Cherub because Angel is Angel. I almost named Cherub 'Lumen', which means "light" in Latin, but I decided against having two Latin names in the Alley.**

**I named Ollie's kitten Emmy, just because it seems to suit him. I named Felix's cat Shadow because Shadow is a black cat.**

**Note: Jeb does not have a counterpart because he was sneaking around, taking care of both the Flock and the Alley without them knowing about each other. Therefore, Ari doesn't have a counterpart. The Alley didn't know Ari yet.**

You see, in our life, nightmares like that are real plenty of times. We used to live at a rotten, evil science lab called the School. The scientists (labmen) were all rotten idiots who found it necessary to experiment on us. One labman named Jeb felt bad for us and snuck us out. He was kind of our guardian, but he only visited once a day maybe. He was always busy with something. When he didn't show up we figured he was dead. We were really sad, like the kind of sad when you lose an uncle.

We were an alley of cat kids. And now the School had my little girl, Cherub.

I landed on my feet, along with the rest of my Alley. We raced towards the vehicle. A quick glance up revealed Max and her flock were doing the same.

Jem leapt towards the now parked Humvee, buttercream tail extended and cat ears poking out of his blonde hair. At the same time, Fang, the quiet one, descended upon an Eraser and then recoiled, blood dripping from a cut in his arm. Jem pounced on an Eraser, but was pushed off.

An Eraser ran into the chopper, followed by another. Wink, Nudge, and Felix, pulled Iggy out of the way of a grenade. One Eraser, carrying two sacks, ran towards the chopper, throwing them in and leaping in.

I leapt at the same time that Max flew up, chasing after the chopper. I couldn't leap high enough, but then Max swooped down and grabbed me with her arms. As soon as we got close enough I pounced, hanging on to the metal railing. I furiously began trying to climb. Max pulled in her wings and hung on next to me. I looked up to see the lead Eraser holding a gun at us.

"Let me tell you a secret, old pal, old chap," the Eraser yelled at Max, "You've got it all wrong. We're the good guys!"

_Old pal?_ I wondered. As we let go, I saw two tousled blonde heads emerge from the sacks.

They took my baby, Cherub, and I didn't think I would ever see her again.

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	9. Chapter 8: Our Little Girls

**Thank you to the people who have reviewed. You guys keep this story going.**

We cat kids have terrible vision. So it didn't take long for the helicopter to fade out of sight. However, the Flock had great vision, and watched it for much longer.

I tried hard not to break down and sob. They had Cherub, my baby, who I had cared for since she was a baby with soft kitten fluff on her ears and tail.

Fizzy ran to me and buried his face into my faded, dirty hoodie. I could feel him sobbing. Poor kid. He was only eight years old, and he had just seen his sister kidnapped. "_They have my sister!"_ the Gasman howled, throwing himself down onto the ground. I realized he was in the same situation as Fizzy.

"Max, what are we gonna do?" the bird kid named Nudge said, crying. "They have _Angel_."

"Cherub…" whispered Wink through her tears. Jem placed one arm around her and the other around me.

I couldn't stand it. I looked into Jem's eyes, knowing he would understand that I needed some time to myself without me saying it.

"Go," he whispered. " They'll understand."

I ran and ran till I came to a huge tree. I climbed it and settled for a fairly high branch.

_Think Ollie! You have to figure this out. Figure something out!_

My brain was drowning with too much thought, emotion, confusion, rage, pain. I needed to get a grip.

But I couldn't get a grip.

I felt like I had just lost my little sister.

And I felt like I had lost my little girl.

"Oh, God, _Cherub, Cherub, Cherub!"_

I scratched at the bark of the tree. My fingers were full of splinters but I didn't care.

The physical pain hurt so much less than the mental kind.

My Cherub, my baby, had been stolen away. She was with vicious wolf-man mutants eager for her blood who would give her to despicable lab geeks who wanted to take her apart. _Literally._

I clung to the branch and cried. I needed my Cherub back.

When I gained most of my composure, I heard more crying from the branch above me. It was the flock leader, Max.

When she saw me she immediately tried to wipe away her tears.

"You care about her a lot. Angel, I mean." I said to her.

Max nodded. "She's my little girl."

"Kind of like me and Cherub." I said.

We headed back towards the flock's house.


	10. Chapter 9: The Flock's House

**Sorry for the long wait, guys. My computer crashed. After reloading homework files for days, I checked my email and then an email came up saying [ New Review ] for Obvium Primus: The Cherub Experiment. A huge thanks to Hazelwave for her review.**

I wasn't sure how we got to their house. All I remember is walking through the door.

Iggy, the blind one, sent a mug flying off the counter and hitting Fang, the quiet one, in the head.

"Watch it, idiot!" he yelled at Iggy furiously. Then he realized what he'd said and clenched his teeth and rolled his eyes in frustration.

Wink was curled up on a chair crying. I put my arm around her, trying to comfort her.

"We'll get her back. I promise." I whispered, even though I, too, had tears streaming down my cheeks.

Fizzy had his head down on the table. I knew he was crying, poor kid. I couldn't believe I let this happen.

Supposedly, I'm the invincible leader, but every now and then, the pressure gets to me and I wish I had more help.

"_You _watch it!" Iggy shouted at Fang. "What _happened?_ I mean, you guys can _see_, can't you? Why couldn't you get Angel?"

"Everybody calm down." Jem interrupted.

"They had a chopper!"Gazzy yelled. "And guns! We're not _bulletproof!_"

"I'm freaking deaf and you don't see me blaming everyone who can hear!" muttered Felix.

"I heard that! At least you can see." exclaimed Iggy. By the look on Felix's face, he had probably read Iggy's lips.

"Well, birds have super vision and hearing, but cats don't have great vision, only great hearing and a great sense of smell. Judging by that, I'd say Felix is even worse off than you, so leave him alone!" shouted Fizzy, lifting his head off the table to reveal a tear- stained face.

"Stop it guys! Fighting isn't going to help Cherub and Angel!" I yelled, trying to make myself heard over the noise.

"Guys! Guys!" Max yelled. "We're all upset. But _we're_ not the enemy! _They're_ the enemy!"

She started pacing. "Just – be quiet for a minute so Ollie and I can think," she added a bit more calmly.

Iggy moved to the couch and almost sat on Nudge, the talkative one.

She scooted to one side, and when he sat down, she put her head on his shoulder. He stroked her hair.

Felix slumped back down in his chair next to Wink and I. I grabbed his hand and squeezed it lightly, knowing how sensitive he is about his deafness.

Fizzy put his head back down on the counter.

"Take deep breaths," the Gasman advised_._

Fang opened a can of ravioli and picked up a fork with a heavily bandaged hand, his eyes on Max.

"You know, if they just wanted to kill her, or kill all of us, they could have," Nudge said shakily. "They had _guns._ They wanted Angel and Cherub _alive_ for some reason. And they didn't care if _we_ were alive or not. I mean, they didn't go out of their way to make _sure_ we were dead, is what I'm saying. So that makes me think we have time to go after Angel and Cherub again."

"Nudge is right. If they wanted to kill anyone, they would have just done it. I mean, to kill somebody, they don't have to go and take them in a helicopter if you have a gun." Wink said.

"But they were in a chopper," said the Gasman. "They're way gone. They could be anywhere." His lower lip trembled, and his jaw clenched. "Like, China or something."

"Or Australia," said the Fizzman in a tear-choked voice.

Max went over and ruffled Gazzy's already tousled blond hair. "I don't think they took her to China, Gazzy."

"Or Australia," I added for Fizzy's benefit.

"We know where they took her." Fang stated calmly. He scraped the bottom of the can with his fork.

"Oh, crap," Jem said under his breath.

"Where's that?" Iggy asked, raising his head.

"The School," Fang, Max, Jem, and I said at the same time.

Well, as imagined, that came down on them like a ton of bricks.

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	11. Chapter 10: Of Secrets and Mouse Poo

**Sorry about the wait. I could rant on and on about the delay but I'll summarize it. Exams, then a trip to New York and Pennsylvania for Christmas, then my Grandmother's birthday, then a kayaking trip that lasted a whole day, then a New Year's party.**

**Disclaimer: All I own is the Alley**

Nudge gasped. Wink fiddled with her short, straight chocolate brown hair nervously.

The Fizzman and the Gasman looked terrified, but tried to wipe it off their faces.

Iggy tightened his face.

Felix's eyes were wide.

Max, Fang, Jem, and I shared grim looks.

"Meow." I looked down. Emmy and Shadow were playing with and ripping up my shoelaces.

"They took Angel back to the School?" the Gasman asked, confused.

"And Cherub?" asked Fizzy.

"I think so," Max said, trying to sound together and leaderly.

"Almost a hundred percent sure," I said.

"Ohcrapohcrapohcrapohcrap -" Jem cut Wink off. "Calm down, Wink."

"Why?" Nudge whispered. "After four years, I thought maybe they had forgotten –"

"They want us back," said Fang.

My family and I rarely talked about the School. We didn't really know what to say. It was too painful for some of us, especially Felix.

"They'll never forget about us. Jeb wasn't supposed to take us out of there." Max reminded the Gasman.

"Jeb knew they would do anything to get us back. If anyone ever discovered what they did to us, it would be the end of the School," Fang explained.

"Why don't we tell on them, then?" Nudge demanded.

"We could go to a TV station and tell everyone and say, Look, they grew wings on us, and we're just little kids, and –"

"Okay, that would fix _them_," Iggy interrupted. "But _we'd_ end up in a zoo."

"Wait," I interrupted. "You said a man named Jeb took you out of the School?"

"Yeah," said Iggy.

"A man named Jeb took us from the School also," said Felix.

"That can't be right," said Gazzy. "He lived with us for a while after that. He would have told us."

"He would stop by every once in a while." Fizzy said.

Iggy crossed his arms. "You're lying. You can't prove anything. He's dead."

"About two years ago, perhaps?" said Wink.

"How did you know?" said Nudge.

"I know this is unsettling, guys, but we have all the time in the world to talk about this after we figure out what to do." I said calmly.

"Well, what are we gonna do, then?" The Gasman was starting to sound really panicky.

Fang had gotten up and left the room, and now he returned, holding a sheaf of yellowed, fading papers. The edges looked nibbled, and he shook some mouse poop off.

"Ew, gross." Wink said.

"Eew," said Nudge, wiping her nose on her sleeve. "Eew. Was that –"

"Here," said Fang, pushing the papers at Max and I.

We spread the papers out on the kitchen table. As if this weren't awful enough, the smell of mouse poo lingered through the air.

Fang found a sealed manila envelope and opened it.

"What is that?" asked the Gasman.

"Map." Fang said, pulling out a faded topographical drawing.

"A map?" asked the Fizzman.

"Map of what?" Nudge peered over Fang's shoulder.

"Map of a secret facility," Max said. "In California. The School."


	12. Chapter 11: Plans and the Buddy System

**Disclaimer: All I own is the Alley**

"Whaaat?" the Gasman squeaked.

"Whaa?" the Fizzman squawked.

"Mraoww?" Shadow and Emmy mewed.

Felix and Iggy went pale, which is saying a lot with their already pale complexions.

"That's where they took Angel and Cherub," Max said. "And that's where we have to go to get them back."

"Oh," said Nudge. "Yeah. We have to go get them back. We can't let them stay there – with them. They're – monsters. They're going to do bad things to them. And put them in cages. Hurt them. But there's five of us. So the rest of us have to go get hmph –"

Max wrapped her hand across Nudge's mouth. God, this girl was just as bad as Wink. Nudge peeled her fingers off her face. "Uh, how far is it?"

"Six hundred miles, more or less," Fang said. "At least a seven-hour flight, not including breaks."

"Actually more, seeing as we can't fly and you'll have to carry us," I said.

"What about a buddy system?" Wink offered. "So we can watch each other's backs. I mean, it works for Harry Potter. He almost never goes anywhere without Ron or Hermione, usually both. Well usually both of them get held up near the end, Harry goes on ahead, and MMPPHH -"

I clamped my hand across Wink's mouth. "Minus the Harry Potter references, that's a good idea, Wink," I said. "OK, Max, so how about me and you, Jem and Fang, Fizzy and Gazzy, Felix and Iggy, and Wink and Nudge."

"Sounds OK." Max said.

"Can we discuss this?" Iggy asked. "We're way outnumbered."

"No," Max and I said, the two of us scanning the map.

"Can we take a vote? They had guns. And a chopper." There was an edge in Iggy's voice.

"Iggy. This is not a democracy, it's a Maxocracy. You know we have to go after Angel. You can't be thinking that we would just let them take her. The six of us look out for one another – no matter what. None of us is ever going to live in a cage again, not while I'm alive" Max stated.

"But actually, Nudge, Wink, Jem, Fang, Ollie, and I are going after Angel and Cherub. You and Gazzy are staying here with your buddies, Felix and Fizzy, on the off chance that the girls escape and find their way back. Sounds good, Ollie?"

Before I could answer Iggy cut in.

"You are so full of it," said Iggy. "That's not why you want us here. Why don't you just say it?"

"Um, Iggy please turn your head around, I can't read your lips if I only see half your face." Felix said quietly.

"Okay," Max said. "It's true. I don't want you to come. The fact is, you're blind, and while you're a great flyer around here where you know everything, I can't be worrying about you in the middle of a firefight with the Erasers. And Felix, frankly, in a fight, we can't tell you if there's someone behind you, or sneaking up on you."

Iggy's face twisted in anger. He opened his mouth to speak but got cut off.

"What about me?" the Gasman squealed, "I don't care if they have guns and a chopper and Erasers. She's my sister."

"That's right. And if they want her so bad, they might want you just as bad," Max pointed out. "Plus, you're a great flyer, but you're eight years old, and we're going to be logging major hours."

"And Fizzy, if we can't take Gazzy, we can't take you. I'm sure Max, Fang, and Nudge, couldn't fly carrying two people." I told him, scooping up Emmy and putting him on my lap.

The Fizzman complained, "But I want to go."

Felix was petting Shadow and didn't meet my eyes.

"Jeb would never have made us stay," Iggy said angrily. "Never. Ever."

"Maybe not," Max admitted. "We'll never know. Jeb's dead. Now everyone get your gear together."


	13. Chapter 12: Backup Plans and Parents

**Disclaimer: All I own is the Alley**

"We clear on Plan B?" Max asked, raising her voice so we could hear her over the wind.

Fang was carrying Jem, and Nudge was carrying Wink. I was being carried in the air by Max, Emmy hiding in the pocket of my sweatshirt. Max and I had argued for a bit over bringing a two month old kitten along. Felix and Fizzy begged Max not to make them take care of Emmy though, because whenever he was separated from me, he went to the bathroom on the furniture. Since we had agreed that Felix and Fizzy would be staying at the Flock's house, Max quickly agreed that it would be better to take Emmy.

"Yep." Jem said.

Fang nodded.

"Yeah, a backup plan. I love backup plans, don't you, Ollie? They are like having extra cupcakes stored in your room in case Fizzy eats the ones in the kitchen or-" Wink was cut off by Nudge.

"Uh-huh," said Nudge. "If we get separated somehow – though I don't see how we could unless maybe one of us gets lost in a cloud or something – do you think that could happen? I haven't ever been inside a cloud. I bet it's creepy. Can you see anything inside a cloud –"

Lord have mercy, this girl was as bad as Wink.

Max shot her a look. She paused, then quickly finished. "We meet up at the northmost point of Lake Mead."

Max nodded. "And where's the School?"

"In DeathValley-" Nudge was cut off by Wink, "eight miles due north from the Badwater Basin." Their mouths opened to add more but Max and I shot them a look.

"You got it," Max said "Good job." I told them.

My shoulder length orange hair was whipping around in the wind. I tried to tuck it into the back of my sweatshirt.

"How do you think Fizzy, Felix, Iggy, and Gazzy are doing?" I asked Max. She shrugged. "They probably aren't too happy, you know that."

I nodded. "That's the problem with being in charge. You have to make decisions that not everybody agrees with."

"I know," she said quietly.

I looked over at Fang and Jem and tried not to laugh. Jem, friendly as he was, kept trying to talk to poor quiet Fang. Fang had this expression like _Why did I get stuck carrying this guy?_ Hey, he should have been thankful that he wasn't carrying Wink.

Max edged over closer to them.

Jem looked at us and said "Does he ever talk?"

I laughed. "Listen."

Fang and Max were talking.

"On the plus side, flying is just really, really cool." Max said. "On the minus side, we're mutant freaks who will never live a normal life." Fang shrugged. "Win some, lose some."

"Of course, I've been trying to get him to say even one word for God knows how long, and now you guys come and he says four." Jem huffed. I laughed. "I doubt he talks to anyone other than Max anyway."

I looked over at Nudge and Wink and tried not to laugh. The both of them were talking so fast it was impossible to understand what either of them was saying. Listening closer, I realized Wink was singing "Harry Potter in 99 seconds." Why, oh why, did I ever give her access to YouTube?

"Harry goes to Hogwarts and meets Ron and Hermione, McGonagall requires he play for Gryffindor, Draco is a daddy's boy, Quirrell becomes unemployed-"

"Max?" Nudge said to Max. "I was thinking –"

"I mean, right before we left? I just looked at Jebs old files, you know? And some of them were about us. Or me. I saw my name on a page, my real name, Monique, and then, like, some people's names, and then – Tipisco, Arizona. Tipisco is right on the Arizona-California border – I found it on the map. Real tiny town, it looked like. Anyway, I was thinking, none of us ever knew our real parents, and, you know, we've always wondered, or at least I mean I've always wondered, but I guess the rest of you have too, like, whether they gave me up voluntarily or whether –"

Of course, _now_ Wink shuts up and listens.

Max looked over at me. I gave her a look like _Hey, she's one of yours. Don't look at me._

"Nudge. I know how you feel. But those names might not have anything to do with you. We don't know if we were just test-tube babies or what. Please. Let's focus on rescuing Angel." Max said.

No response.

"Nudge?"

"Yeah, okay. I was just thinking."

Uh-oh.

**This is your lucky day, because next chapter, I will respond to any and all ****_reasonable _****reviews for this chapter. So review, review, review!**


	14. Chapter 13: Meanwhile, at the School

**Hi, I'm back! And just like I promised, I have written my responses to the reviews for last chapter.**

**The Invisible Enchantress: Wink is really fun to write! I made Jem friendly because as much as I love Fang, it would be boring to have 2 silent rock boys. Also, Ollie isn't riding on Max's back. Max has her arms around Ollie's upper body, while Ollie's lower half is kind of dangling. Ironically, in real life, that is exactly the wrong way to hold a cat. As for Ollie going to Ella's, well, I don't want to spoil it for you!**

** . : I'm glad people love Wink. It seems making her a bookworm was a good way to get readers to relate with her.**

**BittersweetLilies: Thank you for reviewing! I'm glad you like the story.**

**Ella Martenez: I'm already looking forward to that too! It'll be good to see it from another's point of view!**

**This chapter was by far the hardest to write. Cherub and Angel's interactions are, well, a little confusing. Hope you understand the chapter anyways.**

Cherub's head hurt and her tail was sore. She looked around her cage and identified it as a Kanine Kamper, size medium. She was at the School.

Cherub looked at the winged girl in the crate next to hers. Unbidden, a thought came from the girl, or maybe it was Cherub's thought.

_You can read minds. We can both read minds._

Immediately, Cherub knew the girl's name, and she knew the girl knew hers.

Reading Angel's mind was disconcerting. Cherub could hear Angel's thoughts about hearing Cherub's thoughts about hearing Angel's thoughts about hearing Cherub's thoughts…

Cherub tried her best not to think about anything else than the thought she was sending Angel. _Do you know where Ollie is?_ She also tried to convey who Ollie was in that small thought to Angel.

Instantly Cherub heard Angel think back, _Maybe with Max? _Cherub felt a wave of thoughts flow over her when Angel thought about Max. In a blink of a second, she saw Max rocking Angel to sleep, Max brushing Angel's hair, Max dancing Angel around the house and Angel giggling while Max twirled her around, Max cleaning the house, Max holding Angel while she cried and Max tucking Angel in at night.

Before Cherub could respond, she heard thoughts coming from the crate to the other side of Angel.

_New new 'n' wings 'n' tail and new new wings girl tail girl new._

Two small children sat in the crate next to Angel's. They both looked younger than Cherub and Angel. The children stared, eyes wide.

Cherub felt Angel's sympathy.

"Hi." Angel whispered. Since Cherub didn't feel any labmen around, she smiled and waved at the children.

_Mouth noise hand move girl wings girl tail new new._

Cherub stared closely at the children. She thought they were boys. One had scaly patches all over his skin, like a fish. The other was practically bald, and had extra fingers and toes.

"I'm Angel and she's Cherub," Angel whispered. "Do you have names?" Cherub whispered.

_Noise noise bad girls tail wings bad noise._

The two children looked scared and retreated into their cages.

Cherub sniffled. She wondered where Ollie and the others were.

A door opened and Cherub heard footsteps. She felt the petrified thoughts of fear from the little boys and Angel.

One labman stopped in front of Angel's crate, while the other stopped in front of Cherub's.

"Oh, my God - Harrison was right," one labman said, hunching down to stare at Angel through the grate. "They got them! Do you know how long I've wanted to get my hands on these two?"

He turned to the other one. "Did you ever read the Director's precept report about these recombinant groups?"

"Yeah, but I wasn't sure I believed it," the other one, a labwoman, said. "Are you saying these are subjects eleven and fifteen? The little girls?"

The labman rubbed his hands together with glee. "You're looking at them." He leaned forward to unhook the doors of their cages. "Come on, little things. You're wanted in lab seven." _Oh, yes! Man, when I section their brains..._

A wave of fear washed over Cherub as they were being dragged out. She couldn't tell if it was hers or Angel's.

Pathetic relief washed through the boys that the girls were being taken and not them.

Cherub didn't blame them one bit.


	15. Chapter 14: Like a Football Coach

**I have a week long break yay! I will so be updating this as much as I can this week!**

**dancetillidrop: Yes, Nevermore will be quite interesting (stares off into space creepily)**

**The Invisible Enchantress: You are totally right. I changed that a few minutes ago before I posted this chapter.**

Chapter 14

"Max? I'm starving."

"Ollie, I'm kind of hungry too. And my legs went to sleep."

My legs had gone to sleep a while ago, and I realized that I was hungry as well. If it was just Wink, Jem, and I walking, I would have tried to press on, but we weren't the ones flying here.

Emmy mewed. I hope he didn't have to use the litter box again. I was getting a little tired of holding him in the air as he went to the bathroom. Hopefully it hadn't landed on anyone's head.

I looked at Max and said, "It's your call. If you think you need rest, then that's fine."

"Okay, okay. We need food." Max said. "Fang! We need to refuel. Ideas?"

"Jem! What do you think?" I said.

The two boys pondered. Max and Fang's looked down at the mountains below us. Below us were mountains – the San Francisco Peaks, according to our map.

Jem, Fang, Max, and I glanced at one another. "Ski slopes," Max said, and the boys nodded. "Summertime. Empty vacation houses." I added.

Wink said "Well, yeah, but-"

"Would they have _food_?" Nudge finished.

"Let's go find out," Max said. She flew towards a tiny speck that could have been a house. She banked and slowed, tucked her wings in a bit, and started to drop.

"Max! Fang! Nudge! Drop us on three, OK?" I said. Max nodded. "One, two, three!" They dropped us and we fell towards the ground, landing on our feet a hundred yards away.

"Uh, my legs feel so weird." Wink complained.

"Here, shake them a bit and it'll go away." Jem told her.

We crept quietly through the woods. No signs of life. The porch was covered with pine needles, the driveway hadn't been used, and the shrubbery was way overgrown.

Max gave Nudge the thumbs-up, and she smiled, though, amazingly, she and Wink both stayed quiet. _Bless you, children._

Scouting around, we saw no alarm system or anything. It wasn't a big mansion worth protecting anyways. Just a little vacation cottage.

With her pocketknife, Max slit a window screen and unhooked the hatch. The screen lifted off easily, and she set it carefully against the side of the house. Then Fang and Jem shook the old wooden window frame until the lock at the top jiggled open. Jem, Wink, and I quickly climbed in with all the climbing skills of a cat. Next Fang climbed in, then Max boosted Nudge in, then Max scrambled in and shut the window.

Everything was incredibly dusty. The fridge was turned off, it's door open. We started opening kitchen cupboards. "Bingo," Max said, holding up a dusty can of soup.

"Oh, yeah, pay dirt, woo-hoo!" Cans of beans, fruit, condensed milk (Ew, I've tried it and it's way too sweet), ravioli. "We're golden!"

Fang and Jem found some dusty bottles of orange soda, and we popped those suckers open. But there's a reason people serve that stuff cold. I plopped little Emmy down on the couch after giving him pieces of the ravioli.

After eating, Wink and Jem wanted to lay down on the couches and sleep, but I told them that we needed to get some exercise.

"Max, Nudge, and Fang can lay down because they've been flying all day, but we haven't moved much. You don't want to be in bad shape when we rescue Cherub, right?"

"Fine, Ollie," Jem said. "Okey dokey!" Wink said cheerfully.

"OK, um, let's start with, uh, jumping jacks." I said, feeling like a football coach.

At one point we moved past boring old exercises like jumping jacks to things like cartwheels, backflips, and handstands. What can I say; we're just awesome like that.

After that we decided to follow the example of Fang, Nudge, and Max and crash on the couch for a few minutes.

As I fell asleep, I thought, _Hold on Cherub. We're coming._

**Review and you get an air hug from Wink!**


	16. Chapter 15: Meanwhile, at the house

**(You may skip the A/N if you like. It's incredibly long today.)**

**Lots of love to all of you reviewers out there! You deserve it. **

**The Invisible Enchantress: Don't worry, it was meant to be funny, because Ollie had no idea what to make them do, so she's just like "OK, jumping jacks!"**

**Ella Martenez: Your English is pardoned.**

**Zia-k9: I appreciate the criticism. In this chapter you get to see some differences between Iggy and Felix.**

** . : I know what you mean about Nevermore. But don't worry, mine will be better, if only slightly. Nevermore is still a long way off though.**

**And now, onto something weird I did out of boredom. The results of the nonexistent review contest nobody knew about that there is no prize for.**

**In 1****st**** place: The Invisible Enchantress, with 10 reviews (That's 40% of the total reviews.)**

**In 2****nd**** place: . , with 5 reviews (That's 20%)**

**In 3****rd**** place: Ella Martenez with 3 reviews (That's 12%)**

**And in a four-way tie for 4****th**** place: Zia-k9, Hazelwave, The Kanda-chan, and BittersweetLilies, each with one review (That's 4% each)**

**And 3 of the reviews have been Anonymous (That's 12%)**

**And now, I conclude the longest A/N ever, and begin Chapter 15.**

"Let's throw all their stuff into the canyon." Iggy said angrily, punching the door frame.

Felix rolled his eyes. Even though Iggy was overreacting, Felix saw where he was coming from. Having to watch the others pack up their stuff while Felix sat around being deaf was more than Felix could stand.

"I think even their beds would fit out the hall window." Iggy said.

"Don't be ridiculous. Our house is directly beneath yours. The canyon is high enough that gravity would make the bed speed up as it's pulled towards the bottom of the canyon, and the bed would probably go through the roof of our house." Felix said, petting Shadow.

"Well listen to you, Mr. Know-it-all." Iggy grumbled.

"That'd be nice, but I can't listen to myself, remember?" Felix said scathingly.

"Oops." Iggy said. "I see. NOT. You're not the only one who's got it bad."

Felix looked at the two eight-year-olds instead, not wanting to read Iggy's lips anymore.

The Gasman scowled. "I can't believe I have to stay home while they go off and save my own sister." He kicked a worn red sneaker against the kitchen island.

"And mine." The Fizzman joined him in trying to beat up the kitchen island.

He sniffled. Cherub was the most innocent one out of them all. She would sing silly songs and have tea parties with her stuffed animals. Most of all, she was his little sister. He was responsible for her.

"This is stupid!" he yelled.

A bag of cereal lay open on the counter, and the Gasman scooped out a dry handful and ate it. He suddenly picked up the bag of cereal and hurled it at a wall.

The bag split open, and Frootios sprayed everywhere. "This sucks!" the Gasman shouted. "Yeah!" yelled the Fizzman. "Oh, did that just occur to you?" Iggy said sarcastically. "I guess you can't fool the Gasman and the Fizzman. They might not look like the sharpest tools in the shed. But-" "Shut up," said the Gasman, the Fizzman, and Felix in unison. Iggy raised his eyebrows. "Look. This sucks so bad. Max and Ollie left us here 'cause they thought we couldn't keep up." The Gasman declared.

Iggy's face stiffened. Felix narrowed his eyes.

"But were they thinking about what would happen if the Erasers came back here?" the Gasman asked. "Like, they got Angel and Cherub not far from here-they saw all the rest of us. So they know we must be somewhere in the area. Why wouldn't they come back for us?"

"And us, too, probably. Don't forget that they attacked us separately, split into two groups. So they probably know that our house isn't far either." the Fizzman stated.

Felix nodded.

"Huh," Iggy said "Course, it would be hard to find this place, and even harder to get to it."

"Not if they have a chopper," the Gasman pointed out. "Which they do."

"Huh," said Iggy.

"Does that mean we have to sit here and take it?" the Gasman asked pounding his fist on the counter. "No! We don't have to wait for the Erasers to come and get us! We can do stuff! We can make plans. I mean, we're not useless, no matter what Max and Ollie think."

"HEAR, HEAR!" the Fizzman shouted.

"Right," said Iggy, nodding. He came to sit next to the Gasman at the counter. "Yeah, I see what you mean. So to speak."

Felix put Shadow down and sat next to Iggy. "Go on, Gazzy." he said.

"I mean, we're smart! We're tough as nails! Max and Ollie might not have thought about keeping the camp safe, but we did, and we can do it."

"HEAR, HEAR!" the Fizzman pounded his fist on the table for good measure.

"Yeah, now we're talking. Uhhh… but how?" Iggy asked.

"We could make traps! Do sabotage! Bombs!" the Gasman rubbed his hands together.

Iggy grinned. "Bombs are good. I love bombs. Remember the one from last fall? I almost caused an avalanche."

"That was to make a trail through the woods. Okay. There was a reason for it. Max approved it." the Gasman said.

"Catapults! Felix, remember last April Fools? We made that awesome pie flinger!" the Fizzman declared excitedly.

"Yeah!" Felix grinned.

The Gasman pawed through an old pile of newspapers, piles of junk, some old socks, a long forgotten bowl that had once held some sort of food substance—ew-until he found a slightly oil-stained memo pad. "Knew it was around here," he muttered, ripping off used sheets. A similar search revealed part of a pencil. "Now. We need a great plan. What are our objectives?"

Iggy groaned." Oh, no—years of Max influence are taking their toll. You sound just like her. You're, like, a Maxlet. A Maxketeer. A…a…"

Felix and the Fizzman laughed.

The Gasman frowned at Iggy and started writing. "Number one: make firebombs and catapults —for our protection only. Number two: Blow up demonic Erasers when they return and launch stuff at them."

He held the paper up and reread it, then smiled. "Oh, yeah. Now we're getting somewhere. _This is for you, Angel!"_

"_And this is for you, Cherub!_" said the Fizzman.


	17. Chapter 16: Meanwhile, at the School

**Sorry for the lack of updates. I will now respond to reviews for last chapter.**

**The Kanda-chan: I'm glad you're still enjoying this. Yes, the Alley have their differences from their Flock counterparts. **

**The Invisible Enchantress: Yeah, Felix is quieter and calmer than Iggy. And yes, the Maxlet joke was in the book.**

Cherub knew she couldn't last much longer.

Her lungs had started aching an hour ago; she hadn't been able to feel her leg muscles for ages before that. But every time she stopped running, an evil labwoman -Marlene –shocked her with a lever.

It jolted electricity into her, causing her cry out and stumble. She could feel Marlene's eager anticipation-she wanted to hurt Cherub.

But she could shock her a zillion times, if she wanted. This was it—Cherub couldn't go on.

It was a relief to let go. Cherub watched the whole world narrow down to a little fuzzy tube in front of her, and then even that went gray.

She felt herself trip and fall, felt herself slump against the side of the maze.

The shock came, once, twice, three times, but it felt far away, more a bothersome stinging then real pain.

Then Cherub was lost, lost in a dream, and Ollie was there. Ollie was stroking her sweaty hair and crying.

Cherub knew it was a dream because Ollie never cried. Ollie was the strongest person she knew.

Not that she knew that many people. Ripping sounds and a searing pain on her skin brought Cherub back. She blinked into white hospital lights, prison lights. She smelled that awful smell of the School and almost retched. Hands were ripping off all the electrodes attached to her skin. _Rip, rip, rip_. "Incredible, three and a half hours," Marlene murmured. "And its heart rate increased by only eighteen percent. And at the end—it was only in like the last twenty minutes that its peak oxygen levels broke." _It!_ Cherub thought and felt like screaming. _I'm not an it!_

"I can't believe we have an opportunity to study Subject Fifteen. I've been wanting to dissect this recombinant for four years," another voice said. "Fascinating intelligence level—can't wait to get a brain sample."

Cherub could feel their fascination, all their stupid pleasure. They enjoyed all the things wrong about her, all the ways she wasn't normal. And all those stupid complicated words, in the end, only meant one thing: _Cherub was an experiment._

To the labmen, she was a piece of science equipment, like a test tube. She was an _it_. Someone put a straw in her mouth. Water. She started to swallow quickly—she was parched. Like she'd been eating sand. Then another labman picked her up.

She was too exhausted to resist. _I have to think of how escape this place_, she told herself, but thoughts were so hard to string together right now. Someone opened the door to her dog crate and dropped her in it. Cherub lay where she had fallen—at least she was lying down. She only had to sleep for a while. Then she would try to escape. Wearily, she blinked and saw the fish boy staring at her, and Angel lying down in her crate. The other boy was gone. Poor little guy had been taken this morning, hadn't come back. Might not come back. Cherub picked up on Angel's thoughts and saw she was thinking the same thing. _Not us,_ Cherub thought at Angel. _We're gonna fight._ Angel thought back.

_ Right . . . after . . . we. . . rest._

**Review!**


	18. Chapter 17: We Meet Archimedes

**Finally got around to updating! I will now proceed to answer the reviews.**

**marietheham: I'm glad you enjoy this. And, yes, along with Fax, there will be Jellie (Jem x Ollie).**

**Zia-k9: No major spoilers! But, you are probably right about the most striking difference being between Jem and Fang.**

**Disclaimer: I only own the Alley and Archimedes the toad.**

* * *

I woke up to Wink talking quietly (quieter than usual anyways).

"So then Frodo, Sam, Merry, Pippin, Gandalf, Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, and Boromir – I'm just going to call them the Fellowship from now on, okay? – try to cross the Misty Mountains – oh, and Bill the Pony came too – but they can't, 'cause it's snowing too much, and-"

"Wink, who are you talking to?" I interrupted, sitting up from my spot on the rug. Emmy meowed in protest and crawled off my chest.

Then I saw it. In the corner towards which Wink was facing, there was a huge, I mean HUGE toad. Not huge as in, 'Oh wow, that's a big toad' huge, but huge as in 'Holy cow, that toad is the most massive toad I've ever seen' huge.

I said the only thing I could think of, considering I was still half-asleep. "Um."

"Ollie, meet Archimedes." Wink said.

I wasn't sure what was stranger, the fact that Wink named a toad Archimedes, or that she was talking to it about Lord of the Rings.

Max stirred in her sleep. She suddenly smacked the couch cushion and sneezed, then fell on the floor.

"Ouch! Son of a gu-" she gripped the furniture and scrambled to get up, half asleep. "What the..." she said, looking around wildly. She jumped up scanning the room. She shook Nudge awake and kicked Jem in the head. "Nudge! Jem! Wake up! Oh man..."

"Ow! What was that for?" Jem complained as he rubbed his head and got off the floor.

Max ignored him and turned to Fang, who was sitting on the edge of the couch swinging his legs calmly. I felt kind of annoyed that he was so quiet I hadn't noticed he was awake.

"What time is it?" he asked calmly.

Max was visibly upset. "Almost morning! _Of the next day!_"

_That_ got me thinking clearly. _Why didn't I wake anyone else up when I woke up?_ I thought, mentally kicking myself.

Fang was already moving towards the kitchen cupboards. He started filling an old backpack he had found while going through the closet with food,

_No condensed milk, please, _I thought. _It's a little too sweet for my taste._

Jem, neat freak that he was, started organizing everything that we messed up. He shook out pillows, wiped pasta sauce off the cushions, and cleaned some dust off the counters in super speed mode. In my opinion, he was actually leaving the place cleaner than it was when we first got there.

I picked up Emmy and walked over to Jem.

"Jem, it's clean enough." I told him. I wiped dust off his head.

Meanwhile, Nudge blinked groggily. "Wha's happ'nin?"

"We fell asleep!" Max pulled her to her feet. "Come on! We've gotta go!"

She pulled her shoes out from under the couch. I looked around for my shoes, and then realized I had fallen asleep wearing them. Weird.

Pulling Jem away from the counter, I yelled to Wink, "Do you have your shoes?"

She nodded. "Yeah, I put them on when I woke up so Archimedes wouldn't pee on my feet. Can we bring him?"

I groaned. "We don't have time for this, Wink."

"But he's lonely here. He needs friends."

Knowing she wasn't gonna let this go, I told her, "Fine, bring him, we'll drop him off at some pond or something with plenty of friends once we get going."

"Do toads even live in ponds?" she wondered, putting him in a small, child sized backpack.

"Why are you – you know what, never mind." Jem said, slipping his sneakers on and tying his shoelaces.

Max, meanwhile, was saying, "Fang, you can't carry all that. It'll weigh you down. Nothing's heavier that cans."

"Except Jem." Fang said quietly.

"I heard that!"

Fang put the backpack on anyway.

Max jammed Nudge's shoes onto her feet, practically throwing her out the window. I scooped up Emmy, made sure Wink and Jem got through the window, and jumped out myself.

After a quick run down a country road, we were off.

_Sorry, Cherub. Sorry, baby._

"Omigod! Ew, is that a toad?"

* * *

**Review!**


	19. I'm not dead!

Hey readers! I'm here to tell you that the next chapter will be up in about three weeks. Sorry about the delay, but between finals and projects I've been quite busy. However, when I get back from writing camp, I'll be sure to try and finish up the chapter. So sorry you'll have to wait that long, but I can't take my computer to writing camp.


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